The invention relates to electronic packaging in general, and more particularly, to a partially patterned lead frame and a method for making and using the same. The partially patterned lead frame is stronger and more stable than conventional lead frames. The sturdiness of the partially patterned lead frame improves the process of manufacturing lead frame packages and enhances the overall reliability of the end product.
In making electronic packages that use lead frames, there are several process steps that subject the lead frames to mechanical and thermal stresses. The finer geometries of current lead frames and the ever-increasing integration of circuits on semiconductor chips have resulted in processing that places even greater stress on the lead frames. Finely configured lead frames often resemble very delicate embroidery, or stencil-like metal structures that tend to bend, break, disfigure and deform easily. (See FIGS. 1a and 1b). Such conventional lead frames are used in the industry to create a variety of chip packages, including wire bonded and flip-chip (FC) packages. (See FIGS. 2a-2d and 3a-3b).
Conventional lead frames generally lack structural rigidity. The finger-like portions of lead frames can be quite flimsy and difficult to hold in position. This lends to handling flaws, damage and distortion in assembly processes and complicated wire bonding situations. Consequently, bond parameters have to be optimized to compensate for lead frame bouncing during the bonding process. A failure to optimize the bonding parameters to compensate for the mechanical instability of the lead frame can result in poor bond adhesion, and hence poor quality and poor reliability of the bond.
The finger-like portions of a typical lead frame extend from a central portion, known as the chip receiving area, also known as a chip-pad. The chip is usually attached to the receiving area with the backside down, and the front side is positioned face up with terminals located peripherally on the perimeter of the chip, or over the surface of the chip in the form of an array. The receiving area typically has dimensions of about 5 mmxc3x975 mm, and the leads extending outwardly from the chip-pad area have typical dimensions of about 10 mm longxc3x971 mm widexc3x970.5 mm thick. The lead frame is typically held down by a vacuum chuck and mechanical clamps. The chuck and clamps must be refitted for lead frames of different sizes and shapes. The present invention alleviates this problem.
The prior art has not shown any lead frames that can withstand the stresses encountered in current semiconductor packaging processes and that can be manufactured in a cost effective manner. The present invention achieves this objective by providing a partially patterned lead frame that not only improves the manufacturability of the lead frame itself, but also improves the integrity and reliability of the electronic packages that are formed therefrom.
The present invention provides a partially patterned lead frame for use in semiconductor packaging. The lead frame is composed of a film having a top surface and a bottom surface. A first region of the film is partially patterned from the top surface but not entirely through the film to the bottom surface. A second region of the film, not patterned from the top surface, forms a chip receiving area for supporting an integrated circuit (IC) chip and a plurality of lead contacts for providing electrical connections to the IC chip. The first region forms trenches in the film and creates a webbed structure that interconnects the second region that is not partially patterned from the top surface. The present invention is also directed to a method of manufacturing partially patterned lead frames and to electronic packages made utilizing the lead frames. The lead frame of the invention has improved structural rigidity because of its web-like, or webbed structure.
According to the invention, the top surface of a metal film, from which the lead frame is to be formed, is first patterned using standard photolithographic techniques or similar techniques to outline the areas that will correspond to a chip receiving area and leads. At the next step, etching is performed in the first region of the film outside the outlined areas from the top surface of the film partially through the thickness of the underlying film to create a lead frame pattern in the film. After the partial patterning, the remaining areas not patterned from the top surface form a second region which will serve as a chip receiving area and leads along the top surface. The first region forms a recessed webbed region below the top surface of the film. The webbed structure of the first region connects the lead portions to each other and to the chip receiving area. Thus, the partially patterned film looks similar to a webbed foot and retains its rigidity and strength so it can withstand the forces of subsequent manufacturing process steps. In particular, the partially patterned lead frame can withstand the forces encountered during wire bonding and encapsulation processes. In some embodiments, the chip receiving area and electrical leads can be formed from the same parts of the second region (e.g., in the case where the electrical leads support the integrated chip as well as provide electrical connection thereto).
The present invention also provides a unique method of making a plurality of electronic packages using partially patterned lead frames. The method involves a film having a top surface and a bottom surface. In the first region, the film is partially patterned from the top surface but not entirely through to the bottom surface. The remaining second region on the film not partially patterned from the top surface forms a plurality of partially patterned lead frames. Each of the lead frames has a chip receiving area for supporting an integrated circuit (IC) chip and a plurality of electrical leads for providing electrical connections to the IC chip.
The first region of the film forms a webbed structure that interconnects the chip receiving areas and electrical leads of each lead frame. The first region also connects the plurality of lead frames to one another in street portions of the film.
A plurality of chips is provided, each chip having a plurality of electrical terminals for attachment to a corresponding lead frame. Each chip is attached to the chip receiving area on a corresponding lead frame and an electrical connection is formed between at least one terminal of each chip and one of the electrical leads of the lead frame. Thereafter, an encapsulant material is applied over the lead frames and the street portions of the film to completely cover the top of the film. Once the encapsulant material is dried, a back patterning process is performed from the bottom surface of the film in the first region to remove the webbed structure and the street portions of the film. The encapsulant material disposed over the street portions of the film is then singulated to form individual packages.
In a preferred embodiment, the method includes forming the lead frames into the film in a matrix in a block/window pattern, and involves the production of chip scale packages.
Several advantages arise from the partially patterned lead frame of the present invention. The flat and solid un-etched bottom surface of the lead frame serves as an excellent heat sink during the wire bonding process. This provides even heat transfer for better and more consistent bond quality. Additionally, the solid structure provides a continuous surface for a universal vacuum chuck to hold the lead frame down, thereby making the chip-attachment process more stable and the leads more secure during the subsequent process steps. Awkward clamping of outer edges of the lead frame is eliminated to allow an array-matrix lead frame design and processing without conversion needs. Because the bottom side of the partially patterned lead frame is a flat continuous surface, a universal vacuum chuck may be used to hold down many different sizes of frames. This removes the complication of having to refit the vacuum chuck each time a lead frame of different dimensions is being employed in the packaging process. Also, there is no further need for clamping. The use of a universal vacuum chuck and elimination of clamping enables construction of dual or triple rows of staggered leads on the second region for higher lead counts.
The present invention is directed to a partially patterned lead frame that will accommodate not only wire-bonded chips but also solder bumped flip-chips. In addition, the invention teaches methods of using the partially patterned lead frame for making etched lead frame packages (ELPs) that use wire-bonding, ELPs with flip-chips (ELPFs), and also ELPs or ELPFs with land grid array (LGA) pads to form etched land grid array (ELGA) packages, as further described in the embodiments of the present invention.
Flip Chip (FC) technology is one more step towards fully automated joining of the electrical terminals on a chip to the next level of packaging, namely, to a ceramic or plastic substrate, or to a chip microcarrier that is later joined to the substrate. The microcarrier, which is only slightly larger than the chip itself, is now called the chip scale package (CSP). FC technology evolved from tape automated bonding (TAB) which in turn had its origins in wire bonding (WB). Whereas in WB and TAB the chip is positioned on its back surface and electrical connections are made to the terminals located around the perimeter on its top surface, in FC technology the orientation of the chip is reversed. The chip is placed face downward and the back side of the chip oriented upward. This flip-chip orientation has a significant advantage in that it concentrates the electrical functions on the underside of the chip, leaving the top side free for use in developing a highly efficient heat transfer design.
In the FC process, the chip terminals or bond pads are sealed with different types of bumps over the surface of the chip, where the patterns may be deployed in an area array, peripheral patterns or other patterns. The chip may be attached to the next level in the following ways: a) FC attachment to a lead frame; b) FC attachment of a layer/substrate, known as an interposer, for re-routing the connection spacing on a lead frame; c) FC attachment to a pre-attached interposer on a lead frame; or d) FC attachment to a printed circuit board using conventional techniques, including chip reflow methods.
Chip attachment using conventional techniques becomes especially difficult when applied to QFN (Quad Flat No Lead) lead frames in making QFN packages and derivatives thereof, such as VFQPF-N. This is because conventional lead frames in general lack structural rigidity. Finger-like portions of lead frames can be quite flimsy and difficult to hold in one precise position. This lends to handling flaws, damage and distortion in assembly processes and complicated chip bonding situations. FC joining processes require precise alignment of bumped solder heads against the hanging and flimsy lead ends of the lead frame. Furthermore, the wetted solder ends must retain their positions after placement through the solder reflow process. Consequently, reflow parameters have to be optimized to compensate for lead frame bouncing during chip joining, which, if not properly done, can result in poor joints, and hence poor quality and poor reliability of the end product.
It is common practice to form the conventional stencil-like lead frames by patterning a photoresist on a strip of metal, or metal film, and etching through the pattern to form the finger-like leads extending outwardly from the chip receiving area. It is also customary to use xe2x80x9ctie-barsxe2x80x9d between the fingers so that the fingers are kept apart during the various process steps, as was shown in FIGS. 3a and 3b. The present invention alleviates the problem of the lack of structural rigidity of the lead frame by forming a web-like, partially patterned lead frame instead of a stencil-like lead frame.
In accordance with a method of the present invention, all the major process steps of forming a semiconductor package are performed from one side of the film that is to become a lead frame. The other side, namely, the bottom side, remains flat and untouched on a surface, such as the surface of a vacuum chuck. This includes the step of encapsulating and hermetically sealing the partially formed front side of the package. Once the encapsulation is completed, the bottom surface is back-etched to remove selectively the webbed portions that connect the leads to each other and to the chip receiving area. In the ELP case, where the chip is back-bonded to a chip-pad at the chip receiving area and the electrical connection to the chip terminals is made by means of wire bonding, all intermediate webbed portions are severed through etching so that the chip-pad and the lead contacts at the wire bonded end are now isolated from each other by the molding material that surrounds the chip, the wires and the front surfaces of the wire-bonded contact areas. In the case of the ELPF package, however, only the webbed portions that connect the leads to each other are severed through etching, since leads themselves that are connected to the chip solder headed bumps provide the electrical connection to the next level of packaging.
The removal of embedded metal through the saw thickness, or streets, in the webbed portions has several advantages, including the elimination of the saw forces propagating throughout the lead frame structure, and hence, the prevention of the delamination at the metal-plastic interfaces. Also, the electrical isolation through back-etching enables strip testing prior to any sawing or singulation, or for that matter, prior to any further processing steps. After the back patterning, the remaining and exposed metal portions on the bottom surface can then be flash finished with any number of solderable materials through immersion-tin dipping or electroless-nickel plating. The ELGA package uses the FC of the ELPF package, however, with LGA pads for connection to the next level of packaging.
In order to prevent any separation between the molding material and other components of the package during manufacturing, the present invention also teaches how to form locking features on the exposed vertical walls of the recessed webbed portions of the partially etched lead frame, such as on the side walls of the leads, that will come in contact with the molding material, such as a resin. As an alternative, it is also taught to form xe2x80x9clipsxe2x80x9d on the edges of the chip-pad and lead contacts so as to capture the molding material under each lip, thereby making it difficult for the molding material to separate from the mating surfaces.